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This morning, I had the pleasure of joining Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood and NHTSA Administrator David Strickland to speak at a press conference in Waltham, MA about the exciting progress that has been made in the development of technology that might one day eliminate drunk driving!

We have renewed hope that the cure for drunk driving is on the horizon. Turning cars into the cure is now a reality that might be seen in our automobiles in the next 8-10 years. The folks at Qinetiq are working very hard to test two potential technologies that could prevent the car from being operational if the driver is at or above .08 BAC.

Human subject testing (testing the potential technologies in a controlled laboratory setting as the person is given measured amounts of alcohol at specific times) has already taken place. The results have been very encouraging and I’ll write more about that at a later time.

Our Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving hits the five year mark this fall. Imagine…in less than 5 years from now, a research car that is equipped with one or both of these technologies will have been operational for several years and we will be even closer to our goal of eliminating drunk driving.

I am more passionate about the potential to get this cure in cars than I ever have been before! It is possible!

Let’s all keep our focus on making sure that Congress knows we need this technology to not only save lives and prevent injuries, but to save our country millions of dollars in damages from drunk driving.

Blog to Eliminate Drunk Driving

In the wake of their recent success in requiring mandatory ignition interlock devices (IIDs) in the cars of drivers who have been convicted of drunk driving, Mothers Against Drunk Driving has been planning the next push: requiring IIDs in all cars. In other words, no car could be sold in the U.S. without devices which would require you to pass a breath test every time you wanted to start the vehicle.  See All U.S. Cars To Have Ignition Interlock Devices?

I’ve posted in the past about how such devices are, at best, inaccurate and problematic. See, for example, Will Ignition Interlock Devices End Drunk Driving?  These are not the expensive, constantly-calibrated high-tech machines used in police stations, but rather assembly-line equipment made by car manufacturers, subject to endless sources of false readings and failures — which can, ironically, cause accidents.  See Ignition Interlock Devices: Dangerous But Profitable.

And I’ve documented that 3 of MADD’s 6 biggest corporate contributors are auto manufacturers who stand to make big profits from mandatory IIDs (another of the 6 major contributors is MADD’s telemarketing company).  See The Truth About Ignition Interlock Devices..

MADD is now finally making their push for federal legislation.  And based upon past successes with legislators unwilling to oppose MADD, the their chances are good.  In today’s news:

MADD Lobbying for Device to Keep Cars From Starting in Driver is Intoxicated


Dallas, TX.  Nov. 15 — …Now in its 30th year, MADD has a new plan and wants to end drunken driving for good. The nonprofit is pushing for the development of alcohol-sensing technology that prevents cars from starting if the driver is intoxicated.

Some say the group is going too far. The million proposed federal legislation to develop the technology has led to the latest round of charges that the group is "neo-prohibitionist."…

And the American Beverage Institute, a restaurant industry group, criticized MADD’s fund-raising techniques this year. MADD relies heavily on expensive telemarketing, which led to poor marks from two charity watchdog groups…

MADD is lobbying Congress to pass an amendment to the Motor Vehicle Safety Act to provide the million needed over five years for the sensor technology. Cars would not start if the driver has a blood alcohol level above the legal limit, at .08 or higher…

MADD’s top critic, the American Beverage Institute in Washington, D.C., says the group is now going after social drinkers.

"They are no longer a mainstream organization," said Sarah Longwell, the institute’s managing director. "Many of their policies are extremely fringe at this point."

The institute fears the alcohol sensing technology will be used against people just having a drink or two.

"When they talk about alcohol sensing technologies, ultimately what it does, it eliminates people’s ability to drink anything before driving," Longwell said. "It’s not about drunk driving anymore, it’s about trying to demonize any drinking prior to driving."…

 
Would you trust Detroit to mass-manufacture sophisticated breathalyzer technology for your dashboard?
 

DUI BLOG

Dear Friends of MADD Orange County,

As this year draws to a close, we at MADD are grateful for your support over the past year and would like to take this opportunity to offer you our heartfelt thanks. 2009 definitely was a challenging time for us, with the economic downturn, but we were still able to assist many families after the tragedy of impaired driving impacted their lives. I was also able to celebrate my one year anniversary with MADD OC! Without a doubt your support has allowed our efforts over the past 29 years to dramatically lower the number of DUI crashes.

Largely because of your financial support, MADD Orange County has:

· Started a monthly support group for victims of drunk driving
· Entered the digital age with an official Blog, Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter pages to keep you up to date about our traffic safety related matters that concern you
· Started our county’s 2nd UMADD chapter at UCI
· Served over 100 new survivors and victim families of DUI-related crashes as well as offered continued support and assistance to an additional 100 survivors and victim families
· Participated in 38 speaking engagements and 36 DUI checkpoints sharing our lifesaving message with over 25,000 people
· Grew our Youth In Action underage drinking prevention program by 100%

As some of you know I lost my mother, Debbie, five years ago to a drunk driver. My life seemed so out of control. There were so many emotions; loneliness, frustration, and anger. Being involved with MADD helped me begin the healing process, as did speaking out about my mother and how my family’s life had been forever changed. MADD supported me through out the entire case by providing me with a victim advocate and to this day MADD still continues to give me the support I need. I will always be grateful for what MADD has done for me. Through MADD I have met others who had suffered similar tragedies and formed relationships that will last a lifetime.

My work here at MADD has given purpose to my mother’s death, been therapeutic for me, and provides a great sense of satisfaction. I know that my work with MADD, which allows me to deliver a life saving message to hundreds of teenagers and adults each year, is something that would please my mother Debbie.

On behalf of my friends at Mothers Against Drunk Driving, I am asking you to honor loved ones that we have lost by making a donation so that we can continue our mission and promise to our community to stop drunk driving. Your help is greatly needed to get the message across that drunk driving is a choice that should not be made.

In 2010 I will continue to speak out about MADD’s mission; as well as raise funds for MADD, in honor of my mother Debbie and in celebration of the thousands of other lives affected by drunk drivers. I thank you for your time in reading this and wish you and your family a very Happy Holiday Season.

Best Wishes,

Desiree Garcia
Dedicated Daughter
MADD Development Officer

(To mail a donation please use the form above and make checks payable to MADD. To make an online donation click here http://bit.ly/68sbsd and make sure to enter desiree.garcia@madd.org where it asks for an email. Thank you)

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Mothers Against Drunk Driving (Orange County)

MADD Orange County will continue to hold our monthly support group in 2010. We will be moving our support group back to our Tustin office. Our support group is lead by two victims that are MADD Employees, Sharry Graham who is one of our two Victim Advocates and Desiree Garcia, our Development Officer. Currently our group is made up of about 6 people. Anyone who had been affected by an under the influence crash may attend our group.

If you know of anyone that has been affected by a crash please connect them to us. We can help and all of our services are FREE.

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Mothers Against Drunk Driving (Orange County)

Tickets are or 0 for a table of eight. At this moment we are looking for Sponsors & Underwriters for tickets

0.00 – Underwrites 20 tickets
0.00 – Underwrites 10 tickets
0.00 – Underwrites 8 tickets
0.00 – Underwrites 6 tickets
0.00 – Underwrites 4 tickets
.00 – Underwrites 2 tickets
Underwriting 20 tickets for our honorees entitles you to
2 complimentary tickets to our event

For more information please contact Desiree Garcia at (714)838-6199, Ext 11

desiree.garcia@madd.org

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Mothers Against Drunk Driving (Orange County)

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Mothers Against Drunk Driving (Orange County)

May is coming up fast which means our 2010 Walk Like MADD event is right around the corner. Team Captains, MADD needs your excellent help and participation to make this event happen. Last year’s walk was a success because of you! It would be an honor and privilege to have you back again for this year’s event. As a token of our appreciation, MADD will be having a drawing for a prize valued at 0. All team captains who re-sign in the next 2 weeks will automatically be entered into the drawing and will be notified by phone if your name is drawn. You must sign up by March 5th to be eligible so don’t delay!

We can’t do this without you! Please become a team captain again for our 2010 Walk Like MADD event.

Thank you for your participation!

Resign up at http://support.madd.org/wlmoc

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Mothers Against Drunk Driving (Orange County)

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Mothers Against Drunk Driving (Orange County)

,000 GoodSearch Giveaway – Three Days Only!

GoodSearch will donate a for every toolbar that is downloaded between April 6th at 9am EDT and April 9th at 9am EDT up to ,000!! Please download the toolbar right now by following this link – (see below for instructions on how to create a link to your customized toolbar download page)

Our new MADD Orange County toolbar is free to download and allows you to raise money for our cause every time you search or shop online! Once added to IE or Firefox, each time you shop at more than 1,300 stores (from Amazon to Zazzle!) a percentage of your purchase will automatically be donated to MADD Orange County - at no cost to you (and you may even save money as the toolbar provides coupons and deals as well!). The toolbar also has a search box and each time you search the Internet, about a penny is donated to MADD Orange County.

Please hurry and do this now so that we can earn the bonus per toolbar!

And, please pass this along to all of your friends. The two minutes it takes to add this toolbar to your browser can make a lifetime of difference for our cause!

Get the toolbar NOW! http://www.goodsearch.com/toolbar/mothers-against-drunk-driving-madd-orange-county

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Mothers Against Drunk Driving (Orange County)

MADD Oregon News